GGG’s Chris Wilson says that “while many of these changes are to improve the power and usability of these skills,” the studio is “also trying to improve performance by reducing the maximum number of minions, but increasing their power to compensate.”
In a nutshell, Zombies kick far more ass than before, Skeletal Mages will cast faster and deal more ranged damage, Spectres will be more zippy, and Skeleton Warriors have been buffed to do roughly 135% more damage, with faster casting and reduced mana costs for the player to boot.
“The skill now summons up to 5 skeletons at all levels of the gem, instead of growing from 4 to 6 as the skill increased in level. They now have a -30% multiplier to added damage, down from -50%, bringing them in-line with the multiplier on Raging Spirits,” Wilson writes.
On the other hand,
“There are now fewer sources of additional skeletons; Uniques and items that granted additional skeletons (Including existing items) will now grant no more than 1 additional skeleton, and there are fewer sources of additional skeletons to be found in the passive tree. The helmet enchantment that spawned additional skeletons per cast will be reworked or replaced. With investment in uniques and passives, a player should be able to reach around 15 skeletons. The Army of Bones jewel will now grant 1 additional skeleton, has a limit of 1, and is being reworked.”
